Central authority will be too far

Why do most of our councillors and, for that matter, chief council officers think that a centralised authority would be an advantage to the local population?

I would think centralisation would be too far away and out of touch with local requirements and needs.

I agree Oswestry has one too many councils, ie the borough council, which I considered surplus to our needs and often deprives Oswestrians by some of its voting powers.

My other point is that local elections should be free of party politics as many items that could be to the advantage of the general public can be dropped by opposition voting.

Have all those people realised that in many cases centralisation could mean the loss of their jobs?

"Local government" - the words speak for themselves - has been the result of years of striving to be where it is today. Reverting to large unitary authorities would be a retrograde step.

Of course there are faults with the system but these can be ironed out by good judgement.

While on the subject of more than one council, how is it some councillors are on two councils? Are they drawing two lots of expenses?

Is the reason for a centralised local authority because of a possible extension of the City of Birmingham's interest in Telford?

Surely the people of Shropshire can stand up for themselves and resist this without depriving us of "local" government.

Ted Roberts, Oswestry